COVID 19 & MAINTAINING CWU OPERATIONS BETWEEN CWU HEADQUARTERS AND THE FIELD

Branches will be aware that the country has been in a state of national emergency for the last week. New Government measures are almost a daily occurrence and CWU HQ is now working remotely, as are many of our field officials.  These factors mean huge challenges to our traditional flow of information, effective representation and response avenues.

Our structure of representation at local, area, divisional, regional and national level is the best that any union could have and its worth has been demonstrated during the early stages of this crisis. It should be recorded that our Representatives at all levels have been outstanding but it is now necessary to complement that excellent work with the implementation of measures to ensure the highest level of information share, effective representation and response.

Whilst we welcome the recognition that the ‘People’s Post’ and our members provide a vital public service (something we have campaigned on both prior to and since privatisation) we absolutely insist that our members are afforded the highest protection whist carrying out that role.

Royal Mail Group has failed to respond quickly enough in regards to providing personal protective equipment, implementing social distancing, two in a van, prioritising what is actually delivered and putting in place measures to support all of our business units and support operations. When the business has responded it has only been after the strongest possible CWU intervention.  We firmly believe that not only do the union and its members have the best knowledge and experience to design appropriate contingencies but that we must also assert ourselves and drive them through.

Against that backdrop and in recognition that the Postal Department and our Representatives at all levels have and will continue to challenge management at all levels whilst being inundated with calls and e-mails regarding members’ concerns, we are putting in place the following support structures which we believe, once bedded in, will avoid duplication and help provide consistent information, policy and representational flow.

Occupational Departments

The various postal occupational departments will continue to function as now and be aligned to all Divisions/Regions/Functions and business units to ensure that a link continues to be provided to meet the requirements of those operational departments. To some extent this will still be dependent on the current discussions with the business, but if we take the Outdoor Department for example, Mark Baulch, Steve Fishwick, Mick Kavanagh, Tony Bouch, Bobby Weatherall and Darren Glebocki (who cover delivery, collection, cleaning in RMPFS and other related matters) will be the CWU HQ conduit for all Divisions and allow the Outdoor Department to liaise with each or indeed all of the Divisions on areas of high importance.

This approach will be replicated across the other operational departments to utilise the experience and knowledge of other Postal Executive members.  For example, Alan Tate for Fleet, Steve Jones for Engineers (including RMPFS Engineers), Lynn Simpson for POL and Andy Hopping for Administration Grades, Capita etc.  Once again Postal Executive members will be able to either cascade information downwards from their department or relay upwards from the field through ensuring regular contact.

Branches will also acknowledge during the current national crisis the vital importance of having an agreed process in place to address the numerous daily concerns relating to health issues, operational matters and contingency arrangements.  In relation to these particular matters Postal Executive members will be able to act as a buffer to the National Officers in terms of responding to the exceptional amount of enquiries coming in.

The Postal Executive has therefore endorsed the following structure and process to be used throughout the crisis.  Whilst this predominantly centres on Divisions, the same criteria will apply to Parcelforce, Engineers, Fleet, Customer Experience etc.

Coronavirus crisis – Postal Executive Divisional Structure 

Postal Executive members will be attached to Divisions as close to the geographical area they are from.  This is listed below.

Postal Executive members will have a daily call with the Divisional Representatives (or respective Field Officials) and compile a report for the National Officers which identifies any issues within a Division/Region/Function or business unit, as well as possible solutions.  These calls will be used to ensure that Divisional Representatives/Senior Field Officials are also operating and utilising an equally structured format when receiving feedback from the Area and Local Representatives.

Once a week, Postal Executive members will hold a conference call for all Branches within the Division to relay and receive key updates.  This will ensure Branches know that the whole of the union structure is working together to ensure the safety of members is paramount and that consistent, viable operational solutions/CWU Policy Positions, are in place.

Branches will be urged to compile a weekly tracker for all units/shifts.  An example template is attached to this LTB. Branches should note that this captures the number of people self-isolating or off sick, whether social distancing is being strictly applied, whether the rules around shared vans are being applied, if hand sanitiser and PPE etc. have been issued, if resourcing issues at each unit are being dealt with and whether all other operational issues and contingency planning are being applied etc.

To support regular contact between these structures we have deployed to our Postal Executive and Senior Field Officials an extensive external communications package which will be active from Monday 30^thMarch 2020.  As this structure evolves it will enable a regular 2-way information share which will ensure that our responses in respect of social media updates and policy positions are relevant to every workplace, all members and Reps, equally it will enable us to identify any units which need support or assistance.

Postal Executive members may have already been in touch to start developing this structure and we would encourage everyone to work with us and help us deploy and evolve this initiative to ensure that we maximise its potential during these unprecedented times.ParcelforceKatrina QuirkeEngineeringSteve JonesFleetAlan TatePOL Lynn SimpsonLondonMartin WalshScotland & Northern IrelandBobby WeatherallMidlandsMick KavanaghAngliaDarren GlebockiSouth EastShelley BanburySouth Wales/South WestTony BouchNorth Wales/North WestMahmood AliNorth EastSteve HalliwellSouth CentralMole MeadePostal Executive Chair MattersJane LoftusDGSP DepartmentDave Wilshire

In closing I wish to thank you again on behalf of the Officers and Postal Executive members for the excellent work you are doing and urge you all to take care.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)      

20LTB162 COVID 19 & MAINTAINING CWU OPERATIONS BETWEEN CWU HEADQUARTERS AND THE FIELD

20LTB162 Attachment 1 – Copy of COVID_Checklist Template

RM reply on D2D issue.

Message to frontline delivery colleagues.

• Thank you for all of your efforts in adapting to the new challenges we are facing daily due to the current Coronavirus outbreak. Because of the levels of absence, we are now experiencing we need to think of ways to protect our services and our people.
• We are modifying how we deliver “Door to Door” from now. We have listened to feedback from you and our customers and considered this in the changes we are making. It is important we keep the Door to Door option for our customers, as well as ensure we can deliver high priority Government or authority mailings.
• The new approach is:
o Prep all Door to Door on Monday to give an many chances to deliver the D2D with addressed mail in the week.
o Only take Door to Door items with you to an address where you are delivering addressed letters or larger letters to save time outdoors. We call this “warm calling”.
o If no addressed items today, leave the Door to Door in the frame and repeat the “warm calling” process the next day.
o Where you have 2 delivery points per slot, if there is an addressed item for either address deliver both Door to Door items. If not you can roll the Door to Door over to the next day.
o If by Friday (or Saturday) you have not delivered the Door to Door with an addressed item and don’t have time to deliver then as an exception during Coronavirus outbreak we can roll any residue into the second week. If not complete by Saturday of week 1, report it as “late” and deliver early the next week with addressed items and any new Door to Door for that week.
• Any Priority postings (eg more urgent) will be identified and communicated to you by your manager.
• Managers can access more information in this link
• We will keep the process under review and advise any further changes.

The “link” will connect to the following information:

Modified guidance for Managers for Delivery of Door to Door during Coronavirus outbreak:

• Unaddressed Advertising Mail (Door to Door) is still an effective channel for advertisers but also a unique way to get universal messages (for example from Health Authorities and Local councils, or National Government Agencies) to every household, especially those who are hard to reach through other media. It is therefore important that we keep the Door to Door channel open and effective.
• In order to make best use of our outdoor capacity, and to minimise the number of visits to customers doorsteps we should aim to deliver Door to Door to each address on a day when they have addressed items being delivered we will be moving to “warm calling”.
• To get the most from this approach we should prep all the D2D on a Monday (or if we experience delays in the supply chain the day after it arrives) to give ourselves the most chances to have an addressed item for each address over the week.
• Each day you can clear down your frame, leaving any delivery points who only have Door to Door. To support this with warm calling we will consider a frame clear of all addressed mail to be a “clear frame”.
• Where you have 2 delivery points to a prep frame slot then you should deliver both addresses on the same day, even if one does not have an addressed item. If there is no addressed item for either address then you can hold over both D2D items. This helps to prevent confusion later in the week over which address has received the D2D item already.
• Any items where there has not been an addressed item by Friday (or Saturday) where you don’t have time to deliver them under current circumstances can exceptionally be held for delivery early the next week, these should be recorded as delivered “late” on Door to Door reports and must be delivered before the end of the second week.
• If there are any Government or other D2D mailings with different arrangements (eg more urgency) then these will be communicated separately. For example there may be official or universal messages which need to be delivered over a 2,3 or 6 day window and these must be delivered to specification and cannot be rolled into a second week. Clear instruction will need to be provided to frontline colleagues on how long we have to deliver these items. If you have a shorter timescale item it makes sense to deliver any other D2D with that item in that week to save additional visits to Delivery Points.
• It is possible that you may receive leaflets which are for an event which has been cancelled due to not being compliant with social distancing. Please check your items before they are distributed to the preparation frames. If you discover leaflets for cancelled events the unit manager should contact: the Door to Door team preferably on 0345 266 0858, or via doortodoor@royalmail.com.
• You can start warm calling from tomorrow. All new D2D should all be prepped from Monday.
• For reporting ‘Late delivery’, a new temporary question has now been added to the Door to Door SharePoint reporting site, for unit managers to report volumes of Door to Door that have been carried into a second delivery week.
• Because the situation is moving quickly we will keep this approach under review in the coming days and weeks.

Kind Regards, Kev

Kevin Thompson MBA

Delivery Director
Royal Mail

🚨A message to Delivery members 🚨

I want members to be aware that we have written to the company this weekend seeking urgent action on;

• The lack of PPE in workplaces
• The mixed implementation of social distancing rules
• An end to the delivery of retailers D2D products during this crisis
• Making it clear to the public not to approach postal workers on their rounds or on the doorstep

I have also made it very clear the consequences to our members both in terms of welfare and morale are massive and we will not tolerate this continuing.

I will share any responses with members as I receive them and I will give a full update on the delivery Facebook live session at 4pm this Tuesday.

Mark Baulch
Assistant Secretary

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1260431704159666&id=361210270748485?sfnsn=scwspwa&d=w&vh=e&extid=uAG6uZH81TGAJxGc&d=w&vh=e

Royal Mail Group Attendance Procedure

In the last few weeks we have been in negotiations with Royal Mail on attendance issues linked to the Coronavirus.

(9th March 2020 we wrote – RM responded 12th March, we met on 13th March and implemented 16th March. – At this point, Maximum isolation period 14 days).

(Over the weekend of 20th March 2020, Government announce vulnerable people need to self-isolate for 12 weeks. Again we wrote to RM on 23rd March, requesting the review be brought forward due to this change. Royal Mail were not prepared to move the review date forward.)

We took the initiative and wrote to Royal Mail requesting:

·       Members with less than 12 months service will get paid sick leave for Coronavirus Covid-19 sick absence

·       Any sick absence due to Coronavirus Covid-19 absences to be discounted from the Attendance Procedure

·       Members who are on half / no pay – get full pay for Coronavirus Covid-19 sick absence.

·       Where members have to take time off to look after dependents – Paid Special Leave.
 
·       We have secured:

• Full pay for members isolating with coronavirus symptoms – including those who have worked for RM for under a year
• Full pay for members falling into the vulnerable category (as defined by receiving government letter) for 12 weeks isolation
• Coronavirus sickness absence to be discounted from the attendance agreement.
   
  We are in disagreement over:
• Royal Mail do not want to offer pay to those who isolate due to vulnerable person being part of their household
• Royal Mail do not want to offer FULL pay to Members who  are on half / no pay having exhausted sick pay due to being ill previously.
   
  To be absolutely clear we are not in agreement with Royal Mail on these issues and will press them again ‪tomorrow morning‬. I will be able to update members ‪at 4pm tomorrow‬ (Monday) on our Facebook Live Q&A.
   
  Carl Maden
  
Acting Assistant Secretary

Distribution of Coronavirus Testing Kits

The government has announced that Royal Mail will have a role in the distribution of Coronavirus testing kits to NHS and Social Care frontline staff currently in isolation and will be exclusively responsible for the collection of these kits.

A statement from Royal Mail is attached. Royal Mail says “conveying medical supplies through our network is something we do daily….. what is important is that we treat these items as the priority and take care when handling them not to damage the kit and protect our people”.

NHS workers will post their samples into one of 13,000 priority post boxes. The sample will be placed into a corrugated cardboard box and then into a plastic envelope. This packaging complies with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and will be specifically labelled and packaged for easy identification. The intention is to issue plastic bags to collection drivers so that the items do not need to be touched when identified and removed from post boxes.

In line with our support for Royal Mail‘s key role at this time of national crisis, CWU welcomes the government’s decision to entrust this crucial task, which will enable as many NHS and care workers to return to work as soon as possible, to the Royal Mail network.

The union will of course expect to be fully consulted on the safety and operational measures to be adopted and discussions with the business are in progress.

Any enquiries on the above should be addressed to the General Secretary’s office at

gsoffice@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Ray Ellis

Acting National Health & Safety Officer

LTB 161 Distribution of Coronavirus Testing Kits

RM Statement – Test Kits

One to share. This has gone down well with members

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/comment-posties-among-the-true-heroes-of-the-crisis-a4399701.html

DO NOT REPLY 🛑

PRIVATE CARS ON DELIVERY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Branches will be aware that once again, Royal Mail have taken the decision to publish Advice/Guidance to the field, on this occasion in relation to the use of Private Vehicles on Delivery by our members working in Delivery Offices.

We have been attempting to discuss the document with the company over the last couple of days, sharing our concerns, governing the use of the vehicle, insurance issues, out of pocket cost to our members, and a host of other items including ensuring that this would only be a temporary initiative for the duration of the current Coronavirus crisis and would end as soon as practically possible given the previous history of private car use and ceasing this practice with the introduction of delivery methods.

On Wednesday the 24^th of March, we proposed a joint statement to the company that would put the matter on a sure footing with our members and representatives alike in terms of putting some sureties around both the intended use of the vehicle and what more importantly it could not be used for, together with a clear intention of both parties to cease the arrangement as soon as possible. There has been no formal response to this document, indicative once again of the kind of relationship that certain parties within the company want with this Trade Union going forward, sickeningly, even at a time of major crisis. The proposed Joint Statement is attached for your reference.

Following on from the above, and most disappointingly, the company, at a level above where we were having the discussion, decided to plough on ahead with the release of the document which resulted in an avalanche of enquiries into both the Outdoor and Health & Safety Departments. The department then decided to seek urgent legal advice on the content of the guidance pack and subsequently forwarded a number of questions to the employer late this afternoon, the answers to which are attached for your information.

Branches will therefore note, and should bring to the immediate attention of all our members working in Delivery Offices, that using their private vehicles without Business Use Insurance will mean that they are driving on Third Party Insurance Cover onlybut can of course cancel your agreement to use their vehicles at any time.

Any enquiries should be addressed to outdoorsecretary@cwu.org

Yours Sincerely,

Mark Baulch 

Assistant Secretary

LTB 160.20

Legal Q & A’s to RM Private Cars doc

RM_CWU National Joint Statement on Delivery Social Distancing Guide mb1 draft

Royal Mail 2019 – Motor Certificate – Occasional Business Use (OBU)

USE OF PRIVATE VEHICLES ON DELIVERY_v1.1

Creating a Travel and Expenses Claim for an Employee

RMPFS Agreement – Update Joint Statement

Further to LTB 525/19 detailing the joint agreement between PFSL and the CWU, which was endorsed by our members in relation to pay for CWU represented grades in RM Property & Facilities Solutions Limited (PFSL), this update gives you the progress thus far, whilst also providing notice of the pay increases due for payment from 1st April 2020.

Implemented April 2019 (paid in October 2019 salaries with arrears to April 2019)

          Cleaners

• A 2.5% consolidated base salary increase on 1st April 2019, which flowed through to pensionable cash allowances
• A £200 lump sum payment paid in October 2019 and consolidated in April 2020.
• The cleaning grading structure moved to two pay rates with individuals moved from starter rate to maximum rate after two years of employment, replacing the previous 36 months’ three incremental scale to maximum pay arrangements.
• Sunday premium moved to a rate .25 of the hourly rate being added to the appropriate standard hourly rate for working conditioned hours, whilst also providing buy out arrangements for those receiving higher hourly rates on Sunday.
  
  Engineering, Admin & Generic 
•  A 2.5% consolidated base salary increase on 1st April 2019, which flowed through to pensionable cash allowances.Implementation from 1st April 2020 to be paid in April 2020 SalariesCleaners 
• Consolidation of £200 lump sum payment (which was paid in October 2019)

• A 3.3% consolidated base salary increase effective from 1st April 2020, flowing through to pensionable cash allowances.
• For Static and Multi site cleaners on starter rates, the above two points do not apply, however they will receive the government National Living Wage increase from 1st April 2020.
• As part of the Agreement there is a joint commitment to move cleaners to the Living Wage Foundation pay rate. To support this, we are jointly tracking progress towards this commitment. The intention is to move cleaners to the LWF rate in 2022 if this has not been achieved during the 3-year period of the pay agreement. Engineering, Admin & Generic 
•  A 2.5% consolidated base salary increase effective from 1st April 2020, flowing through to pensionable cash allowances

We believe this Joint Statement and pay agreement is a positive position to reach with PFSL. We are therefore jointly committed to continuing to work together to ensure the continued success of the business along with ensuring job security and improvement to our members terms and conditions.

The attached joint statement will be circulated by RMPFS at the same time as the release of this LTB.

Any enquiries regarding the content of the above should be addressed to the Outdoor Department quoting reference 540, email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org or contact the PTCS Department, quoting reference 301. Email address: khawkins@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Mark Baulch
Assistant Secretary

Carl Maden
Assistant Secretary (Acting)

LTB-159/20

Attachment – Joint Statement